Finding Balance with Intention, Breath and Food

We live our everyday life completely immersed with daily tasks, routine and endless things to do. We get used to doing the same thing day after day, keeping our mind busy with what’s going to happen next. We become numb and start living the life of a robot without taking a moment to examine our lifestyle, our life purpose or if even what we are doing is truly meaningful. Our relationships with others is often being valued through our personal gain while our relationship with our fellow creatures is completely taken for granted and most importantly, our relationship with ourselves is out of control.

Our body is a temple; it is sacred and blessed. The way we use it and what we feed it is a reflection of our relationship with ourselves and with others. For example, we know that eating meat every day could cause a lot of diseases, mostly heart or colon cancer. Many of us continue eating it because we enjoy its taste.

We also know wanting to be in a relationship where love is not mutual is very hurtful yet we keep trying to make the relationship work because drama is exciting and our ego does not like the idea of losing and not being wanted. An unhealthy diet is as hurtful as being in an unhealthy relationship and both cases miss self–love and a healthy balance. Dr. Tamra Sattler, therapist and Ph.D. in East-West Psychology said, “We can find our life balance when we are 100 percent true to our deepest self and if our outside matches our inside.”

The same concept is also applied to every task we do, to our daily jobs and routines. Focusing so much on one thing is an indication of attachment towards this object whether it is spiritual, physical or emotional. It will only lead to suffering and an unbalanced lifestyle, just like the breath in yoga. For example, if we inhale longer than we exhale, we tend to constantly be energetic. If we exhale longer than we inhale our energy is often low. As much as they are both useful and needed based on each case, our goal is to have inhale and exhale be equal.

What I found to be a great tool to maintain a balanced life is to find common ground to what I am doing. First, I turn my attention to my heart and ask myself the following questions: is what I am focused on in the moment (spiritually, emotionally and physically) meaningful to me? Why am I focused on it?I constantly remind myself to ask this question: how is what I am doing serving me and/or serving others?

Cynthia Belmer, MFA and a certified yoga instructor who has also taught Internationally. She discovered yoga during a very unstable time in her life. Yoga helped her sit with the unknown, deepen her connection with herself and be open to what is going to unfold, something that she really needed to do to move forward in her life and find happiness within. Since then, yoga has been transformational and a constant learning experience for her personal and spiritual growth. When her life improved and was back on her feet, she wanted to continue her yoga practice and began teacher training. Through all of her learning, she developed a unique style blending the best of every school she encountered, with a goal of inspiring her students’ hearts and improving their lives. She believes yoga is the best tool to serve us for our personal growth, (physically, emotionally and spiritually) and is a great path for exploring our deepest truth. For more information about Cynthia: www.cynthiabelmer.com

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